How PR changed in last 15 years

„From wrapping up goodie bags to brand consulting“

A stunning interview with Mandie Bienek and Luiza Philipp, founders of Berlin based Press Factory, about the changes in PR: ”Over the last years, all these services like consulting, marketing and PR have started blending into each other.“

by Bjoern Luedcke, how fashion ticks

Berlin, 2001. Hedi Slimane was yet to discover the city with his camera and capture its cool in his black and white photos and the trade show Bread and Butter was still two years away from moving from Cologne to Berlin. In other words: Berlin was far away from being on the fashion map. If anything, people were concerned about whether their clothes would endure the next 48 hour rave.

Nonetheless, Mandie Bienek and Luiza Philipp decided to found their PR agency Press Factory. They weren’t aware of it at the time, however, later it turned out it was the first of its kind in the city.

Bienek was marketing director at luxury watch and jewellery brand Bucherer, Philipp worked „on the other side“, in publishing, and was heading Leonce, Berlin’s first independent fashion magazine. They met through work and it was only after the fifth or sixth time they had met, that they decided to found Press Factory.

PR went from „sending out the samples“ to „giving direction“. Among their clients: Armani, Bogner, Chanel to cover only the first three letters of the alphabet.

The last 15 years have seen a massive change in what it means to do PR. Fashion no longer happens in an ivory tower. Digitalisation makes everything more direct and more accessible. That is good, but can be confusing for more traditional brands. In this conversation with Bienek and Philipp, we’ll try to break down what that means.

Read the full interview
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Thank’s again.